Sri Lanka New Year Festival 2019 to kick off at Zabeel Park in Dubai on 12 April

• “Sri Lankan New Year” is celebrated in the harvesting season of Sri Lanka, also called the festival of the Sun
• Celebration includes traditional New Year games with exciting prizes for winners
• A special marathon event to be held dedicated to UAE’s  “Year of Tolerance” this year.
• Most of the games at this free-to-attend event are open to both Sri Lankans and other nationals

DUBAI, April 2019: In celebration of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year in 2019, the Consulate General of Sri Lanka for Dubai and the Northern Emirates of the UAE, along with the Sri Lankan community, will be organising a unique “Sri Lanka New Year Festival – 2019” on Friday, 12 April  at the Mega Bowl in Zabeel Park, Dubai.

With the prime objective of instilling “Sri Lankanness” among all participants and thereby bringing all Sri Lankans across the UAE under one umbrella of celebration, this event, which will run throughout the day, will also provide non-Sri Lankans the opportunity to participate. The New Year festival  will consist of a number of  traditional Sri Lankan games and activities such as Kana Mutti (breaking earthen pots), Kotta Pora (pillow fighting), Aliyata asa thabeema (Placing an eye on the elephant), and Sangawuu Amuththa Seweema (finding the secret guest), to name a few.

It will be a fun day out for the whole family with more activities such as bun eating competition, musical chairs, sack race and lime-and-spoon race.

As part of efforts to showcase Sri Lankan culture, tourism and the concept of sharing related to the New Year, this event will have an array of Sri Lankan cuisine, trade stalls, consultations on purchasing of property in Sri Lanka, free health and dental camps, free spectacle donation and blood donation camp, a model village of Sri Lanka depicting New Year customs of Sri Lanka, and much more. Additionally, a special tourism zone promoting Sri Lanka will be set up where non-Sri Lankans will be invited to pose for selfies that will be shared across  social media with the chance to win prizes. Lucky selfie snappers stand to win exclusive prizes including air tickets and hotel stays in Sri Lanka.

“Our main aim is to showcase the very rich culture of Sri Lanka which dates back to more than 2,500 years. We invite everybody to come and celebrate the Sri Lankan New Year with us. We’re bringing Sri Lanka to Dubai for those who can’t go to Sri Lanka,” said Consul-General, Mr. Charitha Yattogoda.

In a symbolic act of sharing the joy of New Year with all the nationalities based in Dubai, the Consulate General of Sri Lanka is also organizing a fun-filled tug-of-war event, which will be exclusively opened for the staff and families of the Consulates General based in Dubai, as a prime highlight of the event, towards the evening of 12 April.

The Ranwala Balakaya, a leading Sri Lankan traditional cultural troupe headed by Sahan Ranwala consisting of 18 members, specialised in folk dance, is ready to take the participants through an unforgettable evening of cultural performances whilst folk song maestro, Saman Lenin and Nilakshi Halapitiya, will be specially flown from Sri Lanka to enthrall the large gathering expected to attend this mega event. In February 2018 an event named “Sri Lankan Day 2018” was celebrated at the same venue by Sri Lankans across the UAE and it was considered to be one of the largest Sri Lankan gatherings to be held in the Middle East.

Additionally, expressing solidarity with the initiative of the UAE leadership to declare 2019 as the Year of Tolerance, a special marathon under the name of “UAE- Sri Lanka Run of Tolerance 2019” will be hosted as a major highlight of the event. The marathon will be held around Zabeel Park commencing from Gate Number 3 of the Park  early in the morning. Both Sri Lankans and the other nationals can take part in the marathon.

For early registration in the games, as the participants will be selected on a first-come first-serve basis, the following links can be used;

https://goo.gl/forms/8pEOSAYCENUSqYl63 (Non- Sri Lankan participants)
https://goo.gl/forms/jRACRVVFO6C3D1O62 (Sri Lankan participants)

The New Year Festival of Sri Lanka is celebrated when the Sun transits from the House of Pisces to the House of Aries as per the ancient Sinhalese Lunar calendar. It is also called the Festival of the Sun as it is celebrated each year to honour the God of the Sun, who was the key element behind the ancient Sri Lankan agriculture-based society. April is also considered the month of harvest. Hence, the celebrations, along with the rituals, are symbolic of the season and the festivities attached to harvesting.

Mobitel, a leading mobile phone service operator based in Sri Lanka will join as the Key sponsor in the platinum category for this event and Frico International LLC, based in the UAE, will be sponsoring the event in the Gold category. Additionally, other sponsors joining in the corporate category include RAK Bank, Bank of Ceylon, National Savings Bank of Sri Lanka, Dubai Duty Free, LuLu Group International, Al Ahalia Exchange and Al Ansari Exchange, in addition to Sri Lankan Airlines being the official travel partner and Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC), the National Television of Sri Lanka being the exclusive electronic Media partner, which is scheduled to telecast highlights of the event as a two hour programme after the event.